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Xbox Live 'Arcade GameStick' Announced

Mad Catz announced today that its Arcade GameStick for Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox 360 and PC will ship to major US retailers for availability this holiday season. Through collaboration with Konami and PopCap Games, Mad Catz has introduced a joystick controller bundled with three full Xbox Live Arcade games: Frogger, Time Pilot and Astropop.

"Our launch of the Arcade GameStick is consistent with our strategy of developing new revenue streams from video game software bundled with a unique controller," said Darren Richardson, President and CEO of Mad Catz. "Retro-arcade games are a hot market segment, especially on Xbox 360 Live Arcade, and this officially licensed Xbox 360 Arcade GameStick is the answer for anyone that values the control and finesse that only a real joystick can provide."

"Frogger and Time Pilot are classic games that hearken back to the heyday of the original video game arcade," said Yoshinori Aoyagi, Manager, CEO Office at Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. "Having these strong Konami game licenses as part of Mad Catz's new Arcade GameStick reinforces the product's appeal to arcade game fans as well as provides the opportunity to introduce these popular game franchises to new gamers."

"Take our unbeatable library of games and superior gaming platform and match it with peripherals innovation - like what's found with the Arcade GameStick - and it all adds up to an incredible gaming experience that can't be found anywhere else," said Greg Canessa, Group Manager of Xbox Live Arcade. "Now our gamers have a choice in controllers and a new way to experience their favorite games."

Included in the Arcade GameStick package is a free Xbox Gold trial membership and three top-selling Xbox Live Arcade titles. From the vaults of Konami come the classic Frogger and Time Pilot. Widely considered one of the best arcade titles ever, Frogger is a true classic as players scoot a friendly frog across a busy five-lane highway and over a perilous river to peaceful lily pads. Also from Konami, Time Pilot sees the player assuming the role of a pilot of a futuristic fighter, trying to rescue fellow pilots trapped in different time eras. Astropop, from Popcap Games and Oberon Media, is the most modern game offered in this collection and is a space-age arcade puzzle game in which players use their magnetic ray to grab and move colored bricks to form sets of three or more.

The Mad Catz Arcade GameStick will be available at all major retailers in the United States and online. It has an MSRP of $59.99.